Pope Receives Former President of Israel
Pope Francis /Messages



(ZENIT, Vatican City, June 21, 2016).- Pope Francis received in audience the former president of Israel, Shimon Peres, yesterday in the Vatican.

The last meeting between the Pope and Peres was Sept. 4, 2014 in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. During that private audience, Peres presented the Pope with his proposal of a “UN of religions” and informed him of his commitment to peace.

This visit had followed the participation of Peres at the historic invocation for peace desired by the Pope in the Vatican Gardens, June 8, 2014, after his trip to the Holy Land. The president of Israel participated along with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.